TOKYO, July 25 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures fell to a nearly one-week low on Monday, weighed down by slumping Shanghai futures and softer oil prices amid concerns about global oversupply.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for December delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished 4.7 yen, or 2.9 percent, lower at 158.1 yen ($1.49) per kg. TOCOM futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, earlier touched a low of 157.2 yen, the lowest since July 19. “A sharp drop in Shanghai futures and weaker oil prices dampened market sentiment,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery SNRcv1 dropped 370 yuan to finish at 11,175 yuan ($1,673.48) per tonne. Oil prices fell on Monday, holding near two-month lows amid worries that a global glut of crude and refined products would weigh on markets for some time. “It seems that there is a strong ceiling at around 160-165 yen as the TOCOM benchmark has failed to break through that level in May, June and this month,” he said. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery STFc1 last traded at 131.5 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.2 cents. The TOCOM contract for July delivery expired at 188.1 yen on Monday.
($1 = 6.6777 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 106.2200 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, editing by David Evans)
